BRUNSWICK, Maine – The Amherst College football team mounted a pair of goal line stands to hold off Bowdoin, 24-14, on Saturday at Whittier Field.

The Mammoths remain perfect at 3-0 this season while the Polar Bears fall to 0-3.

Game Highlights

Bowdoin took the opening kickoff and marched down the field, using 15 plays to reach the Amherst one yard-line. The Mammoths stood tall defensively, stopping the Polar Bears on four straight plays, taking over on a Bowdoin fumble on fourth and goal.

The teams traded possessions until later in the quarter when Amherst covered 81 yards in eight plays, scoring on a screen pass from Ollie Eberth to Jack Hickey from 22 yards out to take a 7-0 lead.

The Mammoths extended their advantage to 10-0 early in the second quarter on a 41-yard field goal by Andrew Ferrero.

Bowdoin responded with their best drive of the day, a seven-play, 69-yard drive that ended in a Austin McCrum touchdown pass in the flat to Bo Millett to cut the lead to 10-7 with 5:15 to go before the break.Amherst answered in turn with a big drive right before halftime, covering 83 yards in ten plays and scoring on a Eberth pass to Justin Berry, who dove to the pylon for the touchdown with 51 seconds left in the half, making it 17-7.

Following a scoreless third quarter, Amherst looked to put the game away early in the fourth quarter but a couple stops by the Bowdoin defense gave the Polar Bears the ball back with 9:47 to go. Bowdoin moved to the Amherst 4, but the Mammoth defense came up big for the second time, holding the Polar Bears scoreless with their second goal-line stand of the game.

The Mammoths put the game on ice from there, covering 96 yards in ten plays to score an insurance touchdown with 2:56 to go on a spectacular grab by Bo Berluti in the back of the end zone, making it 24-7.

Bowdoin scored a late touchdown on a three-yard pass from Austin McCrum to Griff Stalcup with 1:21 left to cut into the final margin.

By The Numbers

Amherst totaled 463 yards of total offense, with 251 coming through the air courtesy of Eberth, who also tossed three touchdowns, and 78 more coming on the ground for the quarterback.

Bowdoin's Austin McCrum threw for a 242 yards and two touchdowns while Griff Stalcup caught 11 passes for 75 yards. Bo Millett also had 75 yards receiving on just five catches.

Bo Berluti was the leading receiver on the day, catching eight passes for 97 yards for the Mammoths.Franny Rose led Bowdoin with 11 tackles while John Ballard had eight for Amherst.

Amherst owned a 34:35 time of possession to 25:25 for Bowdoin.

Up Next: Bowdoin will host Tufts in their Homecoming Weekend game next Saturday, October 6, at 1:30 p.m.Amherst heads to Vermont to play at Middlebury next Saturday at 1:30 p.m.